Baking Atonement
by Flying Feather
Summary: Superboy feels he owes Miss Martian more than a mumbled apology. Takes place after "Welcome to Happy Harbor".


Blue hues scanned over the book confused. He knew how to battle, how to crush his enemies to secure a victory, scare any dim-witted criminal just by pointing to the crimson 'S' upon his shirt, but this, well this was something _entirely_ different. So different that the clone began to grow nervous.

His strong fingers strained to be delicate as he flipped over each page carefully reading the instructions. He couldn't miss one step or the result could be disastrous, deadly even. He hated those types of words. Kid Flash always joked with him for such dangerous acts he preformed on various missions. Crushing car doors as he tried to open them, breaking buildings with little effort and one particular scene of his newly learned heat vision jetting out and nearly frying Robin's cape when he sneezed. He never meant to do any of those dangerous things. Sometimes he couldn't control himself.

But now, armed with this cook book and good intentions, he was going to keep his usual hot-tempered and unstable strength at bay. After all, he owed Megan more than just a mumbled 'sorry' from earlier. The more and more he had thought about it, the more and more he wished he hadn't over-reacted. Aqualad had been a big help when the clone knocked on his door hours prior asking for help through grunts and strained teeth. The merman was more than happy enough to help with any suggestions.

"Two eggs. Okay..."

With ease, Superboy cracked the crisp white shells spilling the yokes into the bowl filled with other ingredients required for a batch of chocolate chip cookies. If anyone was to stumble upon him at this late hour clutching a batter covered spoon and old cook book on a counter scattered with ingredients he'd break their face.

He was only doing this to make up for his cruel attitude to Megan. The last thing he needed was Kid Flash running in and poking fun at his poor attempt to bake an apology.

And maybe start a friendship.

Muddled as he may be by this new world around him, Megan (as well as Aqualad) had been very patient and understanding with his brash outlook. And during the week, it was Megan whom he saw the most. They both lived in the mountain full time. Though she always made attempts to speak with him, he usually brushed her off followed by a cold sneer. It was her mental capabilities which made him uneasy. She had gone into his mind. _No one_ went into his mind. But the alien always apologized, always tried to make up for her naive nature on Earth and it's customs.

Superboy figured it was time he did the same thing.

By the time the clone had poured the batter onto the baking pan, he felt something strange building in his chest. It wasn't the usual adrenaline fuel he got when charging into battle. This was something different. Something much... softer.

He ignored it, coming to the conclusion he was just nervous about ruining the cookies.

It took him no time to clean up. With in seconds the kitchen looked like it had been unused for the evening as the teenager slipped the cookies into the oven to be baked. He placed himself on top of a stool, anxiously waiting for the treats to be complete. And secretly, though he never would admit it, he wanted them to come out perfect. He could break anything with ease, it was keeping things as delicate and small as a batch of cookies safe from his vice like grip that was the challenge.

"Come on. Hurry up and cook," he grumbled towards the oven.

Patience was something he had never been very good at. Crouched down on his knees now in front of the shinny black oven, the teenager peered through the tinted glass to watch his sweets rise and cook. The book said nine to ten minutes. He checked his new watch, a gift Robin had given him a few days back. It'd only been six minutes. "Hurry up!"

The strange soft and twisting feeling was still dancing around in his chest. He raised a hand, resting it over top of his scarlet 'S' trying to see if he could place the feeling. It was like he was getting... excited to do this for Megan. But that didn't make sense. Did it? I mean, she did nice things for everyone. It's not like she got really excited over it. Or did she? Doing this one procedure couldn't possibly make him feel like this. He was just trying to say he was sorry. There was nothing to get giddy about.

Absolutely nothing. Megan wasn't anything to get frantic over. She was just some alien girl and another member of the team. That was all. This was just a more... formal and personable apology. Superboy shook his head out of nervous reaction trying to wade through his thoughts and emotions. This simple gesture was turning into something so much more complicated. Something he didn't want or expect to feel his way through.

"Finally," he breathed when the clone rechecked his watch pulling out the cookies with his bare hands, the heat from the tray a mere annoyance against his Kryptonian flesh. Blue eyes scanned over his work.

Warm patches of golden brown laced with chocolate chunks filled the room with a relaxing aroma as the teenager rested the tray down preparing to place his perfect treats on a plate. A rare grin crossed his face admiring them. He had really done it. He had made something. He had _made _something instead of _destroying _it.

Pride swelled within the clone. He was capable of more than smashing and taking orders. He was something. No, he was _someone._

After placing the cookies on a plate and making their visual stacked appearance look rather professional, Superboy exited the kitchen, all signs of his secret cooking adventures gone. No one would ever know that Superman's clone had decided to bake at three in the morning as a gift for a teammate. No one _could_ know. That wasn't exactly intimidating information. He'd be the laughing stock of the team. The Boy of Steel, baker extraordinaire! The mere thought made him want to bust a hole through the wall, but he resisted, his mission not yet complete until he gave Miss Martian her sweets.

By the time he had reached Megan's door, Superboy's heart was pounding hard against his chest. His hand hovered over the door afraid to knock. It was that ridiculous feeling again. He didn't understand, nor did he want to. He wasn't supposed to be struggling over delivering a batch of cookies. Irritated with himself, the clone instead gently placed the plate down near the door and reached into his pocket pulling out a small post-it note sized piece of paper.

Glancing down both sides of the hallway, he quickly pulled out a pen residing in his back pocket and scribbled a small note. All he wrote on the cream toned paper was the 'S' logo and gently placed it on the edge of the plate. He had already verbally apologized. It'd be better this way. Especially since he was feeling rather irregular about this activity. Knowing Megan she'd appreciate this small offering even with out Superboy standing there. Yes, it'd be much better this way.

Building up the courage to knock, (and not completely break the door down) the clone softly tapped his knuckles across the door before darting off down the hallway to be out of sight. His heart raced simply thinking about the martian's stunning, silken spread face when she saw the cookies lying there for her. As Superboy found his own quarters, quietly he shut the door behind him and jumped on his bed listening to the rhythm of his chest rising and falling. The genomes had taught him everything he needed to know about emotions. But he had never fully tapped into each emotion to explore just what they could do.

Anger, confusion; all words he knew how to describe from a first hand example. He experienced them almost daily. But happiness, friendship and even love, well, the clone was beside himself on how to properly convey those. He knew what they meant, but he didn't know how to mange them. And he only got such clouded readings when he took the time to think about Megan. Maybe... maybe he needed to spend more time with the alien to understand her.

That wouldn't be so bad. A childish grin grew across the clone's face.

_Knock, knock, knock._

The teenager raised his head inches from his pillow hearing the soft sounds against his door.

_Knock, knock, knock._

His super hearing didn't hear any twitching or running in place, so that ruled out Kid Flash. There was no strong little heart beat straining to be quiet, so that ruled out Robin. There wasn't any calm toe taps either, ruling out Aqualad. That just left—

Superboy picked himself up immediately rushing over to the door and yanking the small golden handle off in the process revealing the source of the sound on the other side, Miss Martian.

She hovered a good two feet off the ground, her emerald cheeks flushed with a slight cherry which she tried hard to conceal. She was wearing a rather ridiculous set of pajamas, pink with kittens printed all over them, floating with her hands behind her back and her orange locks covered her delicate face.

The clone stood in the door way, his bulky fist still clutching the door handle. Nervously, he glanced down at the object, lightly tossing it behind him and pretending to ignore the 'thump' it made as he bounced against the carpet. Megan giggled at the action. Superboy stiffened at her laughter, his chest feeling tighter than ever.

"Thank you for the cookies," the alien whispered sweetly. In a nervous gesture, Megan had brought her hands in front of her now, her fingers twirling around themselves as she searched for the right words to say. And then, the unthinkable happened.

In a flash, the martian had landed on the floor silently and extended her arms forward pulling the Boy of Steel into a hug. The clone felt his blue hues widen and his body experienced a slight euphoria. She smelled like strawberries and her hair felt so soft brushing against his cheeks. Apprehensively, Superboy tried to focus on what to do. Should he hug her back? But what was a good type of hug? The teenager wanted to kick himself for his lack of knowledge on the subject. After a few terrifying moments of deciding what to do, the clone decided to return the gesture.

Before he could bring his arms up to return her hug, she had pulled away, her cheeks burning at the excitement as her chocolate orbs glistened back at Superboy.

"See you at breakfast!" she called out as she took off in a quick flight leaving a very stunned teammate behind.

Superboy wasn't sure how long he stood in his door way, practically paralyzed by Miss Martian's touch. His skin felt like it was on fire, his heart nearly wanted to break out of his chest and all the while, he was just standing there dumbfounded by the whole ordeal. In all his life (not that it was much of one) he had never been shown a form of psychical contact such as that. That simple expression had caused him to experience more feelings than he could have possibly imagined. No one in Cadmus had ever wanted to come with in three feet of him, always terrified that the 'weapon' could snap them in half. But Megan... she had practically jumped on him even with the knowledge that he could crush a building with in a mater of seconds. She hadn't cared.

Superboy grinned looking down at his chest and glancing side to side at his arms where the alien had brushed against him. She had _touched_ him. It was all so overwhelming. His mind had never been circling with some many ideas before.

The only conclusion the clone could come up with was that he couldn't wait for breakfast.


End file.
